Leading Pakistani journalist says barred from leaving country over article

[third eye]

http://in.reuters.com/article/pakistan-media-idINKCN12B0YD


A prominent Pakistani journalist says he has been barred from leaving the country after he wrote an article, denied by the authorities, about a rift between the government and the powerful military.

Cyril Almeida's name has been placed on the Exit Control List, his newspaper Dawn reported on Tuesday, citing officials.

An interior ministry spokesman said he could not confirm the order had been issued.

Almeida, a leading columnist and assistant editor at one of Pakistan's most respected English-language dailies, issued a tweet late on Monday about the ban.

"I am told and have been informed and have been shown evidence that I am on the Exit Control List," he said.

"Puzzled, saddened. Had no intention of going anywhere; this is my home. Pakistan."

Almeida's story, published on Oct. 6, gave an account of a tense, high-level security meeting held between military and government officials.

Quoting anonymous sources, it said civilian government officials called for the military not to interfere if civilian authorities tried to arrest members of anti-India militant groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

India has long accused Pakistan's military of sponsoring these groups to foment unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir and elsewhere, a charge that Pakistan denies.

SENSITIVE TIME

The government issued two denials of the Dawn story.

On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif to discuss the article's contents, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

"The participants were unanimous that the published story was clearly violative of universally acknowledged principles of reporting on National Security issues and has risked the vital state interests through inclusion of inaccurate and misleading contents," the statement said.

"(The) Prime Minister took serious notice of the violation and directed that those responsible should be identified for stern action."

Relations between the civilian government and military have often been strained in a country where several prime ministers, including Sharif himself, have been ousted in coups.

The Dawn article comes at a particularly sensitive time, however, with nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan locked in a tense standoff in disputed Kashmir after militants attacked an Indian army base there last month killing 19 soldiers.

Since 2014, Pakistan has launched a crackdown on Pakistani Taliban militants and their allies along the northwestern border with Afghanistan, but it is unclear if that operation has extended to anti-India groups.

Dawn's editor, Zaffar Abbas, issued a statement saying the paper stood by the report.

Pakistan's press is vibrant, but rights activists say reporting on national security issues is heavily controlled.

Pakistan ranks 147th of 179 countries on Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index. At least 59 journalists have been killed in targeted attacks since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Under the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance 1981, the Pakistani government has the authority to bar the exit of any citizen from the country. Those on the list may apply for a review by the government itself, but not by the courts.

The measure has been used in the past to control the travel of convicted criminals, politicians and some Islamist militants. It has rarely been used against journalists.



(Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

 

[LadyFinger]

It had to be done, you cannot live in a country and spread false propaganda about its military. Its sensitive! Well deserved, earned it.

 

[Noore]

Indian going to arrest decorated and awarded veteran actor Om Puri just for speaking truth and peace but Indian feels good to post when a paid media stooge is being questioned over his article where he claims many things which can't be proved or simple lies.

 

[third eye]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37615467

A top Pakistani journalist says he has been barred from leaving the country, after he reported a row between military and government officials.

Cyril Almeida said on Twitter he had been told his name was on the "exit control list", a border control system.

The row erupted over an article saying the government bluntly warned military chiefs Pakistan faced isolation unless it acted against homegrown militancy.

The government rejected the report, calling it "a fabricated news story".

Why is there tension?
Relations between Pakistan's civilian government and the military have often been tumultuous with three coups since independence. Nawaz Sharif's government took office after Pakistan's first ever civilian transfer of power.

But the timing is sensitive because it comes just weeks after India blamed Pakistan-based militant groups for an attack that killed 18 soldiers in Indian-administered Kashmir, the deadliest assault on the army there in years. Pakistan has consistently denied any links to the attack.

India has long accused Pakistan's ISI spy agency of secretly supporting jihadi groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, saying they wage attacks against India, particularly over Kashmir - which is claimed by both countries.

The ISI is a military intelligence organisation, seen as a central organ of Pakistan's army and run and staffed by military officials.

What did the article say?

The 6 October article by Mr Almeida, published in the English-language Dawn newspaper, quoted unnamed sources who said they were present for a meeting chaired by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the director general of the ISI spy agency, Rizwan Akhtar.

It claimed that the prime minister, Punjab's chief minister and other members of the government raised concerns about a lack of military action against certain militant groups because of their ties to the spy agency. They allegedly warned military chiefs present that Pakistan risked facing international isolation.

The prime minister's office and the Punjab chief ministers office have strongly denied the report saying there was no conflict of that nature at the meeting.

However Dawn stood by the story, saying it had repeatedly fact-checked - and accused the government of "scapegoating the country's most respected newspaper in a malicious campaign".

Image copyrightTWITTER
Mr Almeida was scheduled to travel to Dubai on holiday on Tuesday, but said on Monday evening that he had received word he would not be allowed on the plane.

"I am on the list - I have seen it and I have been told not to go to the airport," he said on Twitter.

Later he wrote: "Puzzled, saddened. Had no intention of going anywhere this is my home. Pakistan."

 

[VCheng]

It's only a ban. It's not like he has disappeared or is dead or something.

 

[kingofkings]

It had to be done, you cannot live in a country and spread false propaganda about its military. Its sensitive! Well deserved, earned it.

Hahahaha .... I agree if in India we start doing that half of the media will be inside but everybody has the right for freedom of speech ....

Off topic question: Is it true that in your military when person gets promoted to highest of the levels they are given millions of dollars worth incentives as standard measures (btw I'm not talking about corrupt money) .....

 

[LadyFinger]

Most of Pakistani traitors go to Dubai or England for holidays. Strange coincidence, just thinking.....

 

[Tameem]

It's only a ban. It's not like he has disappeared or is dead or something.

Exactly, He considers Pakistan his home forever and not a 'sell-out' entirely.

 

[kingofkings]

It's only a ban. It's not like he has disappeared or is dead or something.

.... Nice reply mate couldn't stop laughing ....

We should start doing that in here as well ....

 

[LadyFinger]

False propaganda. So your journalists spread false propaganda about your military. Your military kills whoever they like, even you cannot dare do that.

Yes, regarding the money.... It is an outdated system and people get perks, the senior officers... not the sipahi and havaldar. And I'm not saying they are angels. But you do not lie

Hahahaha .... I agree if in India we start doing that half of the media will be inside but everybody has the right for freedom of speech ....

Off topic question: Is it true that in your military when person gets promoted to highest of the levels they are given millions of dollars worth incentives as standard measures (btw I'm not talking about corrupt money) .....

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

And some one tells me that Pakistan is a paradise for Journalists and free press. Many reports of Journos covering Balochistan picked up by 'someone' and ending up dead. Police state in short.

 

[LadyFinger]

Press is never free. Most of the time it is hostage to propagandists. Only a handful would stay fair with their profession but it is difficult.

And some one tells me that Pakistan is a paradise for Journalists and free press. Many reports of Journos covering Balochistan picked up by 'someone' and ending up dead. Police state in short.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

Press is never free. Most of the time it is hostage to propagandists. Only a handful would stay fair with their profession but it is difficult.

Its. Some government tried doing that in India and got an blackened face. In India they have too much freedom than necessary

 

[cloud4000]

A prominent Pakistani journalist says he has been barred from leaving the country after he wrote an article, denied by the authorities, about a rift between the government and the powerful military.

Rifts between government and military is nothing new in Pakistan, so why up in arms about this article? Usually, such reports are denied and everyone moves on.

 

[Crixus]

Saleem Shahzad was killed for revealing the nexus between some naval person and Al quaida ???
This Guy is also about to die or permanently silenced due to some pressures

Missing Pakistan journalist Saleem Shahzad found dead near Islamabad

A prominent Pakistani journalist who investigated links between the military and al-Qaida has been found dead, triggering angry accusations against the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency.

Saleem Shahzad, Pakistan correspondent for a news service based in Hong Kong, disappeared on his way to a television interview in Islamabad on Sunday evening. On Tuesday ,police said they found his body on a canal bank in Mandi Bahauddin, 80 miles south-east of the capital.

Shahzad's abandoned car was found 25 miles away. Television images of his body showed heavy bruising to his face. Media reports said he had a serious trauma wound to the stomach.

Human Rights Watch had already raised the alarm over the disappearance of the 40-year-old father of three, citing a "reliable interlocutor" who said he had been abducted by ISI.

"This killing bears all the hallmarks of previous killings perpetrated by Pakistani intelligence agencies," said a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch in south Asia, Ali Dayan Hasan. He called for a "transparent investigation and court proceedings".

Other journalists reacted angrily, directly accusing ISI of responsibility on television and social media. "Any journalist here who doesn't believe that it's our intelligence agencies?" tweeted Mohammed Hanif, a bestselling author.

"We want an answer. We need an answer. We deserve an answer," said talk-show host Quatrina Husain.

A senior ISI official told the Associated Press that allegations of the agency's involvement were absurd.

Shahzad, who worked for the online service Asia Times Online and the Italian news agency Adnkronos, vanished two days after publishing a story alleging Pakistan military officials had been in secret negotiations with al-Qaida.

The story claimed the terrorist group had attacked the Mehran naval base in Karachi on 22 May after talks with the military to release two naval officials accused of militant links broke down.

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As a reporter, Shahzad was known for delving deep into the murky underworld of Islamist militancy. He had interviewed some of the most notorious leaders, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, a major player in the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, and Ilyas Kashmiri, a Pakistani militant who works for al-Qaida.

He had just published a book calledInside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11.

Zaffar Abbas, editor of Dawn, Pakistan's most respected paper, paid tribute to Shahzad as "a fine reporter, one of a breed of Pakistani journalists who really believe in investigative journalism". In the light of the death, he is was looking at scaling back his own paper's coverage.

"I am seriously considering the entire process of reporting, and to what extent I can put my own team at risk. It is becoming increasingly dangerous for people to openly report, whether militants or security agencies are involved."

Pakistan's prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, expressed his "deep grief and sorrow" over Shahzad's death and ordered an inquiry, saying that "the culprits would be brought to book at every cost".

Hopes for any inquiry, however, were low. Although the ISI technically reports to Gilani, in reality it is controlled by the army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani. Although accused of numerous human rights abuses over the years, serving ISI officials have never been prosecuted.

Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan termed Shahzad's death a "heinous crime" but avoided mention of the ISI, instead blaming the "servile policies [of] a corrupt and inept government".

Pakistan is the world's most dangerous country for journalists, according to Reporters without Borders, which says that 16 journalists have been killed in the past 14 months. Some of the worst excesses occurred in western province of Balochistan.

Last September Umar Cheema, another investigative reporter, was abducted from Islamabad for six hours and tortured before being released. He said he suspected that his kidnappers belonged to the ISI.

Shahzad was buried in an unmarked grave on Monday, after local police failed to identify his body. His remains were exhumed on Tuesday on orders from President Asif Ali Zardari's office. An autopsy is due.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/31/missing-pakistan-journalist-found-dead

And some one tells me that Pakistan is a paradise for Journalists and free press. Many reports of Journos covering Balochistan picked up by 'someone' and ending up dead. Police state in short.